I was mowing the lawn yesterday when I suddenly realized I was no longer mowing, but instead, simply driving around the lawn tractor. I drove around front and pulled in to the garage to investigate, this was also a good opportunity to try out the new floor jack again.

A bit unnecessary, perhaps, but fun nonetheless. This did allow me to get a good clean look under the cutting deck and inspect for obstructions and damage. Nothing significant but the blade could use a sharpening for sure. When I was down there it became clear that the belt had come off one of the pulleys that drive the blades. Unfortunately it was not as simple as I thought it might be to just slip it back on. I was able to find the source of the dislocation which was a little piece of a stick that got lodged in the pulley and derailed the belt. I needed to use a screw driver to get it out.

Once that was clear and the guard removed I had to raise the deck, as this is the position where the belt disengages by removing the tension. I had to push the deck forward with a good deal of force (I should mention that the tractor was back on all four wheels at this point) to make the belt loose enough to get around the pulley again.
Once that was done I lowered the deck, re-attached the guard and was back at work mowing. This really was not too bad, as far as the cause of the non-functioning mower is concerned. It could have been anything from a broken belt to a damaged pulley, or other things that would have been much more difficult and costly to repair.